April 8, 2017 M&M Polyphonic Percussion

posted Apr 22, 2017, 11:15 AM by Melissa Surles

This day's M&M performers were Polyphonic Percussion. Polyphonic Percussion is a percussion duo formed by Kramer Smith and Taylor Hudock in Jacksonville, Alabama. Their name is representative of the many facets of percussion and all of the different combinations of sound that they can create. Polyphonic Percussion strives to explore all genres of music and how they can be achieved through the use of various percussion instruments. Kramer Smith is a current student at Jacksonville State University, and Taylor Hudock is a graduate of Jacksonville State University with a bachelor's degree in music. Both studied with Mr. Clint Gillespie and Dr. Thomas McCutchen and are active members of the Percussive Arts Society.

These two gentlemen came all the way from Jacksonville, which is about a 75 mile drive, and they pulled out all the stops to put on a performance for our kids. They brought two marimbas, a vibraphone, multiple drums and brought it all in a box truck! While they were getting set up, the choir took a short break and the students were all admiring the equipment, very excited! They were already excited because we were having mac n cheese for lunch, but then the guys started bringing in the heavy equipment. They really inspired our students and made a great impression on them. They were more than happy to answer questions from curious students and parents and even show them how to Everyone hopes they come back.

To find out more about Polyphonic Percussion, follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/polyphonicperc and on Instagram: @polyphonicpercussion

For lunch, we had macaroni and cheese. It had been requested by a few students, so I looked up recipes and created something doable in my electric roaster. It's a little hard to find recipes I can cook at home and reheat the next day in my cooker, so I usually just end up making something up after reading several recipes. We serve lunch for a few reasons, one being that, since we have a performance going from musicians who donate their time and expertise to our kids, we like for them to stay in-house and eat instead of going somewhere for that half hour and missing the show. Also, since many of them are here all day on Saturdays, it's good to give them a meal so they're not hungry for their afternoon classes.

This week, Jack's burgers donated enough paper products to cover our meal. That was a huge help, because plates, cups, napkins and utensils really add a lot to the costs when we are trying to feed a crowd of 50-75 for $50 or less. Thanks, Jacks! To check out their menu, go to www.eatatjacks.com

Cook the macaroni according to manufacturer's directions. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave till it can be whisked like pudding.
Melt the butter in a giant stock pot. Once it's melted, whisk in the cream cheese slowly, till it's smooth. Add about a quart of milk and keep whisking. This is time consuming and laborious. When this is smooth again, whisk a little of this into the flour till you have a paste, then start whisking the paste into the warming liquid.
Once that it done, add the rest of the milk and heat on medium, again, you want to be whisking this so you don't end up with lumps of flour in your dish.
When it is starting to get hot, start adding the shredded cheddar, about a cup at a time. If you can, teach someone else to do this so you don't have to. The process goes like this: Add a cup of cheddar, whisk like crazy, check to see if it's melted in and not lumpy.

If you do not add the cheese very slowly like this, you will end up with a big blob of cheese junk in the bottom of a pot of cooked milk and none of it will be salvageable.

So, add the cheddar, a cup or so at a time, and whisk. Keep the heat at medium to medium low. Do this for all of the five pounds of cheddar and you'll have a thick cheese sauce. Stick it in the fridge till the next day.

Once you're ready to start heating this up, about three hours before serving time, take your electric roaster (Mine is a 22 pound roaster like this one) with the pasta in it, stir in all of the cheese sauce, and set your heat to 250. You will need to come back and stir it, occasionally, so the sides don't burn. After about two hours of stirring occasionally, sprinkle the last pound of cheddar across the top, and check the temp on it. If it's not quite hot, turn the heat up to about 325, put the lid on, and let the top cheese get melty.

That's all there is to it. This will serve roughly 75-100 people, we had a crowd this day of around fifty, most got more than a half cup serving, and most had seconds, even our guest musicians.